Can Loftus-Cheek break into the Chelsea first team this season?

For a long while, Chelsea and England midfielder Ruben Loftus-Cheek has been talked about as a potential star in the making. However, he has struggled to break into the Blues first-team.

Last season the 22-year-old impressed enough on a season-long loan at Crystal Palace that England boss Gareth Southgate selected him in his 23-man World Cup squad. In fact, in the last year or so Loftus-Cheek has won eight caps for the Three Lions.

Obviously a talented midfielder

Loftus-Cheek is obviously a talented midfielder. He has pace, strength and tremendous technical ability. If he had been at any club outside of the top-six, he would probably have been much further down the road with his development.

He showed in his cameos for England in Russia what he offers a team. The youngster also impressed last season at Palace, as he helped the Eagles defy the odds after a torrid start to the campaign to survive relegation. Although he was impressive at Palace, there remain question marks over whether he is ready to compete for a first-team place at a club like Chelsea. That will be a major challenge for the midfielder.

Tough competition for a place in midfield

Chelsea has strengthened in the centre of their midfield this summer by bringing in Jorginho from Napoli and Mateo Kovacic from Real Madrid. The two are very highly-rated and obviously, fit into the sort of football that Blues boss Maurizio Sarri is attempting to implement at Stamford Bridge.

Jorginho was a key player in Napoli’s style of football under Sarri. He is first-choice in central midfield, as is French international midfielder N’Golo Kante, who scored in the Blues 3-0 opening day win against Huddersfield.

The other central midfielder playing for Chelsea in Yorkshire was forgotten man Ross Barkley, who has played a big part in the Blues preseason campaign. That is without mentioning Spanish midfielder Cesc Fabregas who missed the game through injury.

Loftus-Cheek only appeared off the bench in the second half. Sarri praised Loftus-Cheek after a recent friendly win over against Lyon, but the Blues boss also stated he needs to improve on his tactically play.

Overall, even with Tiemoue Bakayoko moving to AC Milan on a season-long loan, Loftus-Cheek faces an uphill battle to get into the Blues starting line-up on a regular basis. He still seems well done the pecking order of central midfielders at Stamford Bridge.

The Blues are set to take on London rivals Arsenal on Saturday evening, a game Chelsea are odds of 3/1 to win. The most action the midfielder is likely to see is a cameo as a substitute in the second half, just like in the opening game of the season.

Maybe he needs to leave Chelsea to develop

Reportedly, Loftus-Cheek turned down the chance to join German side Schalke on a season-long loan deal in order to fight for his place at Chelsea. A move to Schalke would maybe have helped his development.

The Bundesliga are in the Champions League and have an exciting young head coach in Domenico Tedesco. Maybe learning in a different environment would have helped develop the midfielder’s game, as coaching in the German top-flight is reportedly light years ahead of its English counterpart, despite the two teams respective displays at the World Cup.

Unfortunately, for Loftus-Cheek, I do believe he is fighting a losing battle for first-team football at Chelsea. His is a familiar story of a young, potentially talented player who cannot force his way into the starting line-up of a club with the resources to buy the world.

It would be great for England if the youngster could nail down a first-team spot at Stamford Bridge. However, I suspect that by the time the January transfer window opens, the midfielder will likely leave the club, probably on a loan deal.

Can Loftus-Cheek break into the Chelsea first team this season?